Well, my grandparents are busy in the Nauvoo and Quincy areas of Illinois helping to hopefully prevent futher flooding - and trying to protect LDS sites from the waters. They are joined by "people working for Nauvoo Restoration Incorporated, (other) missionaries serving in Nauvoo, and members of the BYU Folk Dancers"

To read the whole story and see video coverage:
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=3562849

Please pray that those making efforts to protect homes, business LDS sites and anything else that they will be safe. I also hope that their efforts will not be in vain.

I am so proud of my grandparents serving an LDS Mission in Nauvoo. They are being such great examples to their family. I look forward to their return. :)

My Treasures on a Hunt!

So, when we got to Layton park (same day as the pictures below), the kids scurried to the merry-go-round, and Brian disappeared. I sat on a swing with Bridger and kept my eye on the kids. I had no idea where Brian had gone. I was getting a little concerned after it'd been about 15 minutes. Where the heck did he go? Why didn't he tell me what he was doing?

Well, after 20 minutes of disappearance, he reappeared! He was excited and intense while carefully hiding a paper in his hand. "Where are the kids?" I pointed out that they still hadn't left the merry-go-round. "Well, I've got to hide this somewhere." I am completely confused. "Hide what? Where were you? I was worried. Is everything ok?" He is pretty focused on something and just says, "Yeah. I gotta hide this though." I reach my hand so I can steady his. I finally see what he is frantic about (other than the paper part). It is a map he's drawn. "Awh, cute. You drew a map! Is this what you've been doing for 20 minutes?" Brian is still in a one-track mind set, and replies, "Well yeah, that is what I was doing. I told you I was leaving." I think he got that I was still a little confused. "I drew a treasure map for the kids. I need to hide it." I'm thinking, Awh cute. Wish I knew he was leaving me for 20 minutes, but this was worth the worry and confusion. What a sweet daddy move!

So, he takes Bridger and places him under the slide platform. After trying to bury the "treasure map" in 2 inches of loose sand, he gives up and hollers to the kids excitedly, "Kids, come here! Look what Bridger's found!" The kids come roving over, and when they look at the map, they get pretty worked up. Brooke congrats Bridger while Spencer starts to study the map. Brian points out the pictures and asks if anything looks familiar. "The slide is here." he remarks. Brooke takes her eyes to it, "Hey look, the merry-go-round is there too!" "Well, let's go there!" Brian says encouragingly.

At the merry-go-round Brooke immediately tells a brown haired four year old girl about the map her baby brother dug up. She is so excited, "You can come too. Want to find the treasure?!" I quickly let Brooke know that the girl's parents need her to stay with them.

Next, the map said to "dinosaur stomp" to the rendition of a bathroom. Stomp stomp stomp! Rrrrrr!

Where is the "W" shaped tree that this map shows??? Hmm... "Is it over there?" inquires Spencer.

Dad steps in, "I think it's over there, guys. Do you see it?"

"Oh yeah, over there!" they say as they run to the "W" tree.

Per map: "Run to the big pine tree."

Were running! But, there are many pine trees here, and they all seem so big! Which one?

"It's the one on the right, kids." directs Brian.

Okay. Now we are at the big pine tree. Where next? What does the map show?

Duck pond. Where is the duck pond? There is a duck in the grass over there!

"Kids go to the water with the ducks." Brian says.

Here are the ducks! Quack Quack!

Next: "Walk slowly over the bridge."

...Daddy looks like he is going to tip over with Bridger! Just kidding!

We are close to the treasure! Where is it? Not in these trees near the water.

Oh look! It is in the rocks! Skull and crossbones - must equal TREASURE!

What could be inside? What would pirates have in here that would be so special to them that they would hide it???

YEAH! Pirate "gold" and gum! Always what any pirate needs. :)

Thanks for going with us on this treasure hunt. I'll have to tell them about this post. They will be so proud that everyone knows what great treasure hunters they are. I think Brooke and Spencer will always make sure to tell others about this special treasure hunt.

I am glad to have such great treasures in my life; Brian, Brooke, Spencer and Bridger (and any other family member(s) in the future).

Happy "Treasure" Hunting to you!

Pictures at the Park

Here's some updated photos of the kids I took Saturday (June 7). Some of them are overexposed, but I'm too lazy to fix it.



Bridger (14 mths)

Bridger still has very red hair, but the sunlight made it look much lighter.

Crawl, walk, fall, walk again, eat dirt/grass rocks. All in a good day's work!


Brooke (6 yrs on June 18) The one decent shot I could take of her before she would morph into a snarling, sneaky tiger! Rarrr! She's going to pounce on Spencer now.

Spencer (4 1/2 yrs)

He did GREAT at the park with me clicking away constantly with my camera. He would even "pose" for me. Mr model boy today. :)

Like I said before, Brooke was being a goofball throughout the whole "shoot". I was lucky to get the one I got that I posted here. She wanted to just laugh pounce and dance around. No posing for her! lol Look at stoic Spencer posing though. Awh...

Brooke climbing a tree. She had tried to climb a different tree... but it had no limbs for quite some time. She didn't make it far! lol


Spencer tackling the tree. He got pretty far up but smartly said, "Dad this is dangerous - there is nothing to hold onto up there."

Memories Make Me SMILE! :-)

So, I got some pics from my dad of me and my siblings when we were kids. I had a great childhood! My parents were wonderful, understanding souls. Sometimes I was a little bit of a trial ... but they lasted, and I am better for it!

Awh! Wasn't I a cute baby? I think I was about 9-12 mths here. I don't remember much. Hmm... I liked cooing, smiling and having mom put me in cutesy stuff! My mom did say I was bawled for quite some time... so she always had a bow in my hair. Thanks Mom! :)

At approximately two years old, I was a terror. I had something called the "terrible twos". It was awful. I guess. Although I don't think I had it quite that bad... I mean look at my smile. It just melts you! .... Umm... sorry if you are all melted.

Christmas almost always had a piano bench fireplace. We finally got the "real thing" when I was a pre-teen. Anyways, my dad would always pull out the fireplace paper thing and wrap it around my mom's piano bench. I think we were always wanting to fuss with the set up, and my dad lovingly just put it back in place. I swear my mom and dad rarely got really mad at us.

...Isn't little chubby Shaun a cutie!? :)

Awh! Movie Star pose! I think this was a dance costume. 3-4 yrs old? I gotta ask my mom the ages on these pics!

I think my mom went to the same photo place for most of my young childhood. I wonder if it's still around?

Anyway, I'm guessing I am about 4-5 yrs old... although my mom must have been pregnant with Kyle at the time because that is about the age span we are apart. Shaun and I were/are always best buds. We played together like we were true bosom buddies. Again - couldn't you just squeeze those soft round cheeks of his??? :)

Speaking of Kyle... here he is! My mom and I are in it to... but my dad had other plans with the composition of it (he's actually a VERY good photographer... more to show later in another post).

So, we are all so cute here... but I hate my hair. My mom loved to cut my hair short, and my dad was not one of those silly men that demand hair remain long. But, contrary to my mom's taste, I despise my hair being short enough that I cannot pull it up halfway. Hey, when you are a mom though, you want your kids to look their best, and my mom thought I looked my best with short hair - so all the power to her! :)

I hope I am putting these in the right order....

I remember really liking the rose on this dress. I thought I looked so pretty in the dark blue and red rose with a red bow to top the number off. I was really proud of my looks! Oh, and I am giving up on the age guessing until I nab my mom about it! ;)

I love my eyes in this pic. I also love how relaxed I look. I really haven't been very photogenic my whole life. People say to say cheese and all I could think about was if I was smiling with my sparkly whites peeking out perfectly and my eyes open enough. For some reason, my eyes can go oriental in a second... so I used to try to open my eyes a little too wide at times.... :-P

You probably noticed from the previous pic that my hair is pretty poofy... but, I just had to share my other poofy pics. Maybe this is why my mom had my hair short! It is naturally curly and very thick. Many times it was a monster ... but we won't talk about that nightmare!

Note: See the cute gingerbread house all dolled up? And the very cute apron with the ruffled sleeves? Memories! :)

I'm doing the Scarface look here, but it is mainly here for three purposes: show how cute Kyle is, share the one pic I currently have of Amy as a kid, and lastly, BASEBALL!

When we lived in Canoga Park, CA, we went to the Dodger's games fairly regularly. My great half-uncle (my grandpa's half-brother) owns Kelly Blue Book, among many other things. He also has the privilege of having decent seats at the Dodger's stadium. When he chose not to go, we got to be amazed by watching men hit baseballs, bringing our own mitts in hopes of catching a foul ball, getting the freebie (hat, shirt, ball, key chain, magnet, or eraser etc) if we came soon enough, beg mom and dad a few times for the crazy people wandering around with toys for sale and most importantly, hoping our cute faces would show up on the big screen above the luscious emerald field. This was one of my most favorite memories of Cali-forn-i-a. I will admit that I came back with some "valley girl" tendencies, but we won't talk about that interestingness in my life right now!

Hope this compilation helped spring some memories in your own life. Here's to many memories of the past and more in the future for you and I!